Tag Archives: stock-market

Trump Tariffs Show Signs of Being Written by AI

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There seem to be signs that president Donald Trump's befuddling tariff measures were cooked up by an AI chatbot.

President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on most goods imported into the US yesterday, affecting over 100 countries — including uninhabited territories in the middle of the ocean.

It's a baffling decision that's expected to wreak havoc on the international economy, heightening existing concerns over an imminent recession.

Worse, as Cointelegraph reports, there seem to be signs that the befuddling measures were cooked up by an AI chatbot.

Basically, Trump's tariff rates divide the trade deficit between the US and a given country by the value of the total goods imported from it, and then divide the result by two.

As observers quickly noticed, chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT were prone to duplicating that calculation, suggesting that lethargic administration officials might have turned to the tech to devise the plan.

"What would be an easy way to calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even playing fields when it comes to trade deficit. Set a minimum of ten percent," crypto trader Jordan "Cobie" Fish asked ChatGPT.

The AI tool happily obliged, coming up with a strikingly similar formulation, dividing the trade deficit by total imports to calculate the tariff rate.

However, even the chatbot warned that doing so wouldn't make much sense.

"This method ignores the intricate dynamics of international trade — such as elasticities, retaliatory measures, and supply chain nuances — but it provides a blunt, proportional rule to 'level the playing field,'" ChatGPT wrote.

"Confirmed, ChatGPT..." Journal of Public Economics editor Wojtek Kopczuk tweeted. "Exactly what the dumbest kid in the class would do, without edits."

A breakdown of which country got hit hard and which was spared highlights how the new tariff rates largely ignore the greater international trade context.

"I suspect his is also why countries like Iran, which we basically do not trade with, gets off so easily," another user replied. "No trade = no trade deficit!"

It's not just ChatGPT. Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok gave a similar answer when given the same prompt, suggesting adjusting tariff rates "based on deficit size."

Again, Grok warned about such a plan being largely illogical — and potentially self-defeating.

"This method assumes tariffs directly reduce imports by raising prices, but in reality, factors like demand elasticity, currency exchange rates, and global supply chains complicate the outcome," Grok wrote. "It also risks retaliation or higher costs for US consumers."

"For a truly 'even playing field,' you’d need to consider production costs, subsidies, and labor standards abroad — data that’s harder to quantify simply," the chatbot added.

Anthropic's Claude AI chatbot made a similar suggestion, adding the same caveats.

Could the pattern be a coincidence? Sure. But the White House has already been accused of using AI to generate sloppily-written executive orders, which bore hallmarks of AI tools like ChatGPT.

The administration has also made a big deal of its use of AI for governing, with Elon Musk's DOGE crowing about its use of the tech and the General Services Administration launching a chatbot last month designed to support staff at the agency.

The bottom line, though? AI or not, economists are warning that the tariffs are ill-advised and likely to devastate the global economy. The stock market is already taking a hammering this morning.

"There is no economic rationale for doing this and it will cost the global economy dearly," London School of Economics professor Thomas Sampson told the BBC.

More on tariffs: Trump's Tariffs Are Wreaking Havoc on the AI Industry He Claims to Support

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Trump Tariffs Show Signs of Being Written by AI

China Attacks Trump With Sassy AI-Generated Music Video

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As the economy roils and tensions escalate, China has dealt a devastating blow to Donald Trump in the form of an AI music video.

As the world economy reels from President Donald Trump's so-called "reciprocal tariffs," the trade war between China and the US is escalating to new heights.

Nowhere is that more evident than in China's wild clapback in the form of an AI-generated music video blasting the United States, which came hours after Trump announced a 34 percent tax on Chinese imports.

The English-language China Global Television Network (CGTN) released the song, called "Look What You Taxed Us Through" ahead of Wall Street's worst single-day performance since 2020, during the throes of the pandemic. The song's lyrics are written from the point of view of an American consumer, blasting Trump's economic policy and daily life in the US more broadly. While the music video is AI-generated — a fact the CGTN advertises, unlike some American slopaganda — it also makes use of clips and audio from real sources like Trump rallies, Tesla protests, and American social media.

For many Americans, "Liberation Day," hailed by Trump's administration, means shrinking paychecks and rising costs. Tariffs hit, wallets quit: low-income families take the hardest blow. As the market holds its breath, the toll is already undeniable. #LiberationDay #CGTNOpinion pic.twitter.com/RzXFFVHoFg

— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) April 3, 2025

 

"Groceries cost a kidney, gas a lung. Your 'deals'? Just hot air from your tongue," the song opens, overlaid with B-roll from Tesla protests and audio from inflation-wary Americans. It continues: "Elon's satellites crash, Bezos' wealth sinks, the GDP's limping, the Fed's out of tricks, your 'patriot tax' made Wall Street sick."

While harsh remarks from US officials and mainstream media about China are nothing new, China rarely hits back with this much vinegar. Its appeal to US citizens to question their economy is clear: "CEOs buy yachts, we can't afford a stew!"

But Beijing's retaliatory strategy goes far beyond campy propaganda. China has matched the US' tariffs with 34 percent tariffs on its own, sharply escalating a seven-year trade war. It also announced controls on rare earth exports, which could be a major blow for American manufacturing, as China produces about 90 percent of the world's refined rare earth metal.

Unfortunately for people in the US, the CGTN's depiction isn't far off. Responding to the terrible rotten stock market dive, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell noted that Trump's tariffs are "larger than expected," adding that increased inflation, lost jobs, and stagnant economic growth are likely.

"We face a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation," Powell fretted.

US business leaders were a little less restrained.

"There will be blood," was the message from JP Morgan's Bruce Kasman, whose team released an analysis of the tariffs on Thursday. They warned that the risk of a recession has skyrocketed from an already uncomfortable 40 percent to a whopping 60. "At a basic level," Kasman's team calls the tariffs a functional tax increase on US citizens and businesses.

So far, Trump's tariffs have wiped $2.5 trillion in US stock market value, and it's anyone's guess when we might hit the bottom. At least we'll get some crafty Chinese propaganda when we do.

More on China: Tesla Forced to Change Name of "Full Self-Driving" in China, Since Its Cars Can't Fully Drive Themselves

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China Attacks Trump With Sassy AI-Generated Music Video

94-Year-Old Warren Buffett Announces Plans to Give Away $147 Billion When He Dies

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Warren Buffett has announced that much of his legendary accumulation of wealth will be given away under the auspices of his three children.

Give It All Away

American stock market wizard Warren Buffett has announced that much of his legendary accumulation of wealth will be given away under the auspices of his three children.

However, as the 94-year-old admitted in a lengthy letter to investors, even they've grown quite old themselves, inspiring him to come up with a contingency plan in case they were to pass away before his remaining $147.4 billion fortune could be fully handed out — though he stopped short of publicly naming such a successor.

"Father time always wins," he wrote, as quoted by the Associated Press. "But he can be fickle — indeed unfair and even cruel — sometimes ending life at birth or soon thereafter while, at other times, waiting a century or so before paying a visit."

"To date, I’ve been very lucky, but, before long, he will get around to me," he added. "There is, however, a downside to my good fortune in avoiding his notice."

Logan Roy IRL

The nonagenarian admitted that the "expected life span of my children has materially diminished" since pledging to donate yearly to his children's charitable efforts, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2006.

Buffett also argued that "hugely wealthy parents should leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing."

The billionaire has made considerable donations over the years. Last year, his charitable giving exceeded $50 billion, roughly twice his entire 2006 net worth.

Despite his advanced age, Buffett has held onto the reins of his Berkshire Hathaway empire and has yet to announce plans to retire. His children, however, won't be taking over the multinational holdings company — one of his deputies, Greg Abel, has already been identified as the next CEO following Buffett's death.

Meanwhile, Buffett's children are tasked to oversee his philanthropic efforts.

Last year, he announced that the three would have ten years following his death to give away his fortune. But now that they're growing old, it's probably for the best to arrange a backup plan in case they quite literally can't give it away fast enough.

More on Warren Buffett: Warren Buffett Compares AI to the Atom Bomb

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94-Year-Old Warren Buffett Announces Plans to Give Away $147 Billion When He Dies

94-Year-Old Warren Buffett Announces Plans to Give Away $147 Billion When He Dies

Posted on by

Warren Buffett has announced that much of his legendary accumulation of wealth will be given away under the auspices of his three children.

Give It All Away

American stock market wizard Warren Buffett has announced that much of his legendary accumulation of wealth will be given away under the auspices of his three children.

However, as the 94-year-old admitted in a lengthy letter to investors, even they've grown quite old themselves, inspiring him to come up with a contingency plan in case they were to pass away before his remaining $147.4 billion fortune could be fully handed out — though he stopped short of publicly naming such a successor.

"Father time always wins," he wrote, as quoted by the Associated Press. "But he can be fickle — indeed unfair and even cruel — sometimes ending life at birth or soon thereafter while, at other times, waiting a century or so before paying a visit."

"To date, I’ve been very lucky, but, before long, he will get around to me," he added. "There is, however, a downside to my good fortune in avoiding his notice."

Logan Roy IRL

The nonagenarian admitted that the "expected life span of my children has materially diminished" since pledging to donate yearly to his children's charitable efforts, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2006.

Buffett also argued that "hugely wealthy parents should leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing."

The billionaire has made considerable donations over the years. Last year, his charitable giving exceeded $50 billion, roughly twice his entire 2006 net worth.

Despite his advanced age, Buffett has held onto the reins of his Berkshire Hathaway empire and has yet to announce plans to retire. His children, however, won't be taking over the multinational holdings company — one of his deputies, Greg Abel, has already been identified as the next CEO following Buffett's death.

Meanwhile, Buffett's children are tasked to oversee his philanthropic efforts.

Last year, he announced that the three would have ten years following his death to give away his fortune. But now that they're growing old, it's probably for the best to arrange a backup plan in case they quite literally can't give it away fast enough.

More on Warren Buffett: Warren Buffett Compares AI to the Atom Bomb

The post 94-Year-Old Warren Buffett Announces Plans to Give Away $147 Billion When He Dies appeared first on Futurism.

See original here:
94-Year-Old Warren Buffett Announces Plans to Give Away $147 Billion When He Dies